Controlling-lever for automobiles.



I. G..& F. w. PARSONS.

CONTROLLING LEVER FOR-AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION msn MAII.6.I9I1.

1,285,351 Patented Nov. 12), 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET yl.

Afg 7 l. G. & F. W. PARSONS.

communs Leven FOR Auomones.

APPLICATION FILED MAR- 6. l9ll.

Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Maf/zgan n rr l sar JACKSON Gr; PARSONS AND FREDERICK W. PARSONS, OFEAST CLEVELAND, OHIO.

n CONTROLLING-LEVER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JACKSON G. PARSONS and FREDERICK WV. PARSONS,citizens of they United States, residing at East Cleveland, in thecounty of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Controlling- Levers for Automobiles, vof whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to controlling levers for automobiles, and oneobject of the invention is to provide a horizontal extension or handlefor a lever such as the gear-shifting lever of an automobile, wherebythe lever may be conveniently actuated and shifted without requiring theoperator to stretch or stoop, and a further object is to provide arotatable connection for the handle to permit it to be turned out of theway and afford a free passage in front of the seat, and also to providea simple lock to fix the handle in dierent set positions so thatuninitiated persons may find diiiiculty in turning and resetting thehandle.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a perspective view of a portionof an automobile showing a gear-shifting lever equipped with thevextension-handle herein- `after described. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sideview, partly in section, of the extensionhandle and its lockingPv head.Fig. 3 is a cross section, in plan, on line 3-3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is afront view at right. angles to Fig. 2, showing the locking cap and thehandle arm or rod in cross Section, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view ofthe locking cap removed. Fig. 6 is a side view of thesocket head. Figs.7 and 8 are, plan and side views, respectively, of a modified form ofthe invention.

The gear-shifting lever L in an automobile is located invariably at the`front ofl the drivers seat and at one side of the steerlng wheel, and 1nmany instances centrally of the car and more or less beneath avcowl oran inwardly projecting dash. A

common arrangement is to place this lever forwardly of the seat as faras possible to afford an unobstructed aisle or passage in front of theseat, which compels the driver to stretch and stoop to a considerablede-` gree each time the lever is manipulated, and it is also well knownthat in shifting the gears this lever is movable in a lateral directionas well as in a forward and backward direction relatively to the seat.This Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 6, 1917. Serial No. 152,452.

Patented Nov, 19, 1918.

invention is designed to facilitate the oper# ation of the lever fromthe car seat without stretch or stoop by providing an extensionhandlefor the lever, consisting of a curved arm or rod 2y having a sphericalgrip 3 at its upturned end 4 and a straight portion 5 at its oppositeend.` Rod 2 is adjustably secured by a set screw 6 within a transverseopening extending -throughth'e outer end of a round cylindrical Stem orstud 7 which is rotatably seated vWithin a socket or seat in lockinghead 8 sleeved over` the upper reducedextremity o'f lever L, anda setscrew 9 locks head 8' rigidly in place. Many of the controlling leversin use have a screw-threaded extremity with a removable 'ball gripcorrespondimj` to grip 3, and head 8 is in the form of acylindricalsleeve with. a reduced bore adapted tov slip over saidvthreaded eX- tremity, andis therefore easily substituted for the 'oldball Aor hand' grip. However, the extension-handle must ybe lockedagainst rotation in the head in order'that lever L may be mo-ved fromside to sideas Well as fore Ward and back in gear-shifting operations.Therefore, head -8Y is provided with four radial notches orgrooves l()in its upper cir cular face or edge, and stud 7 is lprovided with a pinor set of radial lugs 1ladapted to occupy two of said grooves 10.A Twosets of grooves are used to permit they ext-ension-handle tor belshifted relatively `to the seat, and in one of'its positions, thehandle extends towardtheseat with grip 3 relatively close to thefrontedge ythereof where thev driver can easily reachfit and :press thelever forward or to `one side Without stretching or stooping. Initsother, position as iiXed by the lugs 11 and grooves l0 the handle rod 2extends parallel with the front edge of thefseat andfclose to the dashoricowl board l2.

A second controlling leverl 13 is often placed at one 'side offleverL,andthe opera-y tion o f lever ,13 may lbe obstructed by swinging Vtherod 2I parallely with the dash and across the path of iriovelnent ofsaid lever 13, which is of advantage in preventing 4unauthorized use ofthe' carby those uninitiated in the setting of the-"extension-handle.Moreovera lock corresponding to a permutation lock is employed tolsafeguard the turning movements of the stud and handle in 'head 8. Thislock consists of a cap or collarl: 'having .an internalv annularshoulder' 15 vat its "upper end which is provided with a pair of pocketsor recesses 16 radially in its bottom face. When these pockets areplaced in register with either set of grooves 10 by a turning movementof the cap, the pin or lugs 11 may enter said pockets or recesses 16 andthe handle and stud raised :the requisite distance to free the lugs 11from grooves 10 in the head, thereby permitting'the handle to be turned.

. In this turning movement the cap also turns and the lugs ride over thecircular edge of head 8 until they reach and drop into the other set ofgrooves a quarter distance from the starting position. Then by rotatingthe cap in either direction a greater or less degree, the pockets andlugs 11 are placed out of register and Vit becomes impossible to raisethe stud and turn the handle. Locking may be eli'ected when the handleextends either toward the seat or the side of the car, and unlocking andshifting of the handle can only be eected when the cap pockets areplaced directly opposite the lugs 11. However, it is also necessary toprevent uplift of the cap to ei'ect complete locking results, and forthis purpose a square-headed or flat-sided rivetI 17 is used to hold thecap in place upon head 8. That is, the square head of said rivet'islocated upon the inside of the cap and projected into an annular channel18 in the reduced end 19 of the head, and while the cap may be freelyrotated it cannot be removed, except in one position of the parts wherethe rivet stands directly in line with a vertical slot 20 extending fromchannel 18 to the top edge of the head, see Fig. 6. In this case, theentire handle may be removed from lever L, that is, the cap may belifted free from the head and the stud also.

The rounded head I21 of the rivet is exposed at the side of the cap, andby observing its relative location to some radial place on the head theconstant user of the car becomes conversant with the proper placement oithe cap for locking and unlocking purposes, but to the uninitiated thereis no guide to register the pockets 16 with the lugs 11, or the rivethead with the slot 20, as all said parts are located internally of thedevice and absolutely concealed to the eye. Moreover, by locating therivet in different radial positions relatively to the pocketsindifferent caps, a different setting is required for each cap whileoutwardly all look substantially alike. Thus, the user of the device onone car is not necessarily familiar with the setting of a similarldevice on another car and cannot effect unlocking of the parts withoutconsiderable experimental manipulation of the permutation locking cap orcollar 14.

In Figs. 7 and 8, a modified form of the invention is shown whichpermits the handle to be lthown upwardly out ofthe way instead ofswinging to one side as in the other form of the device. The same unionof locking parts are used, but the head 8 is provided with a transverseopening 22 instead of an axial opening to receive the reduced extremityof lever L. Consequently, the head lies in a horizontal plane instead ofstanding upright, and the stud rotates on a horizontal axis whichpermits the handle to swing upwardly and out of the way of the personleaving or entering the vehicle. A thimble 23 is also used to extend thesocket or opening 22 beyond the side of the head and to close and finishthe outer end of the opening.

What we claim is:

1. In an automobile, a gearshifting lever and an extension-handlemounted for independent movement thereon; and a separable lockingconnection for said parts, affording' joint movement thereof laterallyand an independent turning movement of the exten-- sion handle.

2. In an automobile, a gear-shifting lover and an extension-handlehaving a rotatable connection therewith, and means to lock saidextension-handle immovably in position upon said lever.

3. A controlling lever for an automobile, an extension-handle mountedfor independent movement upon said lever, and a permutation lock forsaid extension-handle adapt ed to secure the parts together for commonmovement. A

4. A controlling lever for an automobile, an extension handle rotatablymounted upon said lever, and a rotatable permutation locking device tosecure said extension-handle in immovable position upon said lever.

5. A controlling lever for an automobile, a socket head for said lever,and an extensionhandle having a stud rotatably mounted in separableinterlocking connection with said head.

6. A controlling lever for an automobile', interlocking members securedto the upper end of said lever, and a handle secured in adjustableextension connection with one of said interlocking members.

7. A controlling lever for an automobile, interlocking members aiiixedin rotatable union at the upper end of said lever, and anextension-handle for one of said members.

8. A controlling lever for y*an automobile, separable interlockingmembers mounted in rotatable connection upon said lever, and a rotatablepermutation locking collar for said members. n

, 9. A controlling lever and an extensionhandle mounted to turn inrespect thereto and having interlocking connections and a locking collaradapting the extension-handle to be immovably held in diiterentsetpositions upon said lever.

10. An extension-handle for an automoioo bile control lever, comprisinga handle having a supporting stud provided with lateral lugs, a socketmember to receive said stud having grooves to seat said lugs, and acollar rotatably secured upon said member having recesses to also seatsaid studs in turning movements of said handle.

11. An attachment for an automobile control lever, comprising acylindrical socket member adapted to be xed to the extremity of thelever and provided With radial notches, a stud rotatably mounted andmovable axially Within said socket member having radial lugs adapted toseat Within said notches, a handle extending at one side of said stud,and a locking collar rotatably secured to said socket member havingradial recesses to receive said lugs and permit axial movement of thestud.

12. An attachment for an automobile control lever, comprising a socketmember and a stud rotatably mounted and movable axially therein, ahandle extending from said stud, a rotatable collar to lock said studagainst independent rotative and axial movements, and means for securingsaid collar in separable union with said socket member.

13. An attachment for an automobile control lever, comprising a sockethead having an annular channel and a slot open to said channel andradial notches in its end, a stud confined Within said socket memberhaving radial lugs to seat Within said notches, a

handle extending laterally from said stud, and a collar having internalrecesses adapted to register with said notches and lugs and providedWith a fastening element projecting into said channel.

1.4. An attachment for an automobile control lever, comprising acylindrical socket member having end notches and an annular channel andside slot, a stud seated Within said socket member having radial lugsadapted to enter said notches, a handle eX- tending from said stud, alocking collar having' internal recesses adapted to register with saidnotches and lugs and provided With a flat-sided projection extendinginto said channel and adapted to pass through said slot.

15. An attachment for an automobile control lever, comprising a studmember and a handle in adjustable extensible connection therewith, asocket member seating said stud having radial notches at its end and anannularv channel in its side, a projecting pin extending through saidstud adapted to seat Within said notches, and a locking collar havinginternal recesses adapted to register with said notches and pin Whenrotated for this purpose and provided With a locking proiectionextending into said channel.

Signed at Cleveland, in the countv of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, this28th day of February, 1917.

JACKSON G. PARSONS'. FREDERICK W. PARSONS.

Qopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

